‘Bye-bye’ Trump exits shutdown talks

A White House meeting between US President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats on Wednesday ended in acrimony after Trump walked out when he failed to receive assurances he would get funding for a border wall.

Trump tweeted afterwards that he abruptly ended the meeting, which was meant to make progress on ending a partial government shutdown, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told him she would not agree to funding for a wall even if he agreed to the Democrats’ plan to end the stalemate. “I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!” he wrote on Twitter, calling the meeting “a total waste of time.”

Speaking on the White House driveway, Pelosi noted the cold weather was near freezing and said the temperature inside the presidential mansion “wasn’t much warmer.”

Pelosi added that the latest developments were “so sad” as they take place just a few days before hundreds of thousands of federal workers affected by the shutdown are due to be denied pay for the first time.

“The president seems to be insensitive to that,” Pelosi said, before taking a swipe at Trump’s family wealth. “He seems to think they can just ask their father for more money, but they can’t.”